1 From the desk of fr. ken mazur Dear Readers, This day and age, the time of the Coronavirus, is unprecedented in any of our lives. None of us have experienced something like this - none of us would have ever expected it - the house quarantine, masks, gloves, continually washing our hands, or the grocery store shelves empty of some of our basic needs. Especially for we Christians, I think that the fact that we cannot gather together to worship is one of the most heart-wrenching things we are experiencing. A few weeks ago, right before Easter, I was reading the comments on social media about not being able to go to Church, not receiving Communion, not praying, and not singing together. While reading these comments, my thoughts went to the “Kakure Christians” of Japan. “Kakure Christians” means “Hidden Christians.” The Emperor of Japan outlawed Christianity, closing all churches and shackling them shut. The clergy were expelled from the country, forced to renounce their religion, or persecuted and martyred. There was no Mass and no Holy Communion. The Martin Scorsese movie “Silence” that came out a few years ago portrays the situation rather dramatically. Christianity was outlawed for over 250 years. They could not publicly worship or gather, so the Christians did so in hiding; for over 250 years, they kept their faith alive. They had no sacraments, no priests, no churches, but they knew that God was with them. When Christianity was eventually permitted again in Japan, the missionaries were surprised to find that the faith had not only continued but had even flourished in many places. We will not be locked out of our churches for 250 years. We will be able to gather together again, to worship, to sing, to receive Holy Communion and the Sacraments. We do not know when, but it will happen. The longing that we have in our hearts and souls will be met with gladness and rejoicing. We will celebrate Easter, the Resurrection of Jesus which comes after the suffering and the death because we know that God is with us. Yes, even during this pandemic, when we could rightly question “Where is God?” God is good. We continue to pray for all of you and your loved ones. Please pray for us as well; for our missionaries and the people that they serve for they, too, are suffering. We cannot only be concerned for ourselves because God is good. In Christ, Fr. Ken Mazur, PIME US Superior 2 Mission World INSIDE May // June 2020 “We tried to open their ON THE COVER eyes so that they could see Organizations like “Friends Without what it means to face such 26 Borders” are unique ways for the a thing in a country where 12 Missionaries of the Immaculate to there are no structures capable promote dialogue among young of caring for the sick.” people in Algeria. Mission Featured Virgin and Child with Saint Bernadino, Fr. Franco Cagnasso, PIME, 20 Saint Jerome, and Two Angels by adapts a program for a new Sano di Pietro educational need in Bangladesh. 08 Fr. Daniele Criscione reflects on Missionaries working in the the current quarantine, and, having 24 Amazon comment on the Apostolic faced this before, the grace that can 22 Exhortation “Querida Amazonia.” come from it. Publisher: PIME is present in the following parishes Fr. Ken Mazur, PIME in the United States: Executive Editor: St. Ann & St. Lucy - Harlem New York, NY Fr. Daniele Criscione, PIME San Francesco – Clinton Twp., MI PIMEMISSIONARIES SINCE 1850 Translation: St. Rosalia - Regina Pacis - Brooklyn, NY Fr. Dino Vanin, PIME St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception - Monroe, MI Editing & Design: (313) 342-4066 Patrick Carroll U.S. Mission Office Mailing in Canada: Proofreading: 17330 Quincy St. 980 Louis Avenue [email protected] Stacey Bentley Detroit, MI 48221-2749 Windsor, ON N9A 1X9 www.PIMEusa.org Brooke Grobbel 3 Featured Holy Week services in Tripoli often draw large crowds. waiting for By Chiara Zappa The Easter Vigil will be celebrated in the afternoon so that it will be over before dark. Life for Catholics in the former Italian easter colony must come to terms with instability and violence. “There are few of us, but we are not invisible,” says the Apostolic in tripoli Vicar, Monsignor Bugeja. 4 May // June 2020 waiting for easter in tripoli t will be a normal Easter Triduum, with cumbersome presence of the many external the church full of faithful and the rites actors who do not want to miss an opportunity animated by the four parish choirs, with to grab their slice of the Libyan pie. The result justI one change. “I will celebrate the Easter of all these ingredients is a lethal mix whose Vigil at 4:00 p.m., so people will have time to product is chaos and instability, which affects go home before dark. You know, there’s always everyone, Christians in particular. a degree of fear for their safety.” “After the Copts and Orthodox of various Bishop George Bugeja’s clarification denominations left following the crisis of 2014, immediately suggests that, in reality, there only we Catholics were left, along with a small is very little “normal” in the daily life of his community of Anglicans and Pentecostals,” faithful, to whom he has been Pastor for five Bishop Bugeja explains. If in 2010 there were years now. In the district of Dahra - the heart of 150,000 baptized, today there are around three Tripoli sits a small church - dedicated to Saint thousand, out of 6.3 million inhabitants. Francis, where everyone can meet the Maltese bishop in his humble habit. Bishop Bugeja, who makes up your flock? The church is the only one active in the “We are 100% foreigners, especially Libyan capital since the times of the “green Filipinos, who are employed as nurses in revolution” of Gaddafi. It was 1969 when the hospitals; Africans mostly from Nigeria and power was taken by force with a coup d ‘état Ghana, as well as a few from South Sudan; under the banner of national socialism and the and then Pakistanis and Indians. At their side expulsion of foreigners. Church property was in Tripoli, it is just me, another Franciscan confiscated, and places of prayer (39 total in the Friar, Magdy Helmi, and eight Sisters of city) were closed, including the Cathedral of the Mother Teresa engaged as volunteers in two Sacred Heart. The Catholic Church was adapted government institutes at the service of Libyan to Islamic worship after some architectural citizens with mental problems. Some years ago, retouching. Today, it is the great mosque that there were also the Daughters of Charity who stands in Algeria Square. worked in a facility for needy minors, but then Bishop Bugeja, born in 1962 in Xaghara, they left for security reasons. Malta, has been the Apostolic Vicar of Tripoli In Benghazi, the seat of the other Vicariate, since 2017. Two years earlier, the Pope had called the situation is even more precarious. A him to join Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, bombing to drive out the ISIS members who who passed last December, as coadjutor of the had established their headquarters in the area Vicariate. “At the beginning, it was very hard,” destroyed the church. All of the nuns are gone, the bishop admits. His Libya is one of the post- and only two friars remain, plus a third in Gaddafi-regime after he was killed in October nearby Al Beida. The community is made up of 2011. A country with out-of-control violence a group of Filipinos and sub-Saharan Africans and attacks against religious minorities, with who gather for the celebrations in a small hall the brutal murder of 21 Coptic Christians at the of the Children’s Hospital. There, they have to hands of the ISIS militants in 2015. A Libya of start all over again.” the long “Battle of Benghazi” to free Cyrenaica from extremists and then the institutional What is daily life like for the Church in stalemate that now sees the country formally Tripoli? divided between the authority of the government in Tripoli led by Fayez Al Serraj, “Our activities all take place within the and the militia of the strong man of Benghazi, parish boundaries. The Sunday liturgy is Khalifa Haftar. celebrated on Fridays, a feast day for Muslims. Between two extremes, the balance of power We have two Masses, one for the Filipinos and is linked to the influential local tribes and the one for the other communities. Each of these Libya 5 waiting for easter in tripoli usually draws between 400 and 500 faithful Organization for Migration if they want to participants, although the turnout depends on return to their country. We also have a small the situation in the city. When there are clashes first aid clinic, where a doctor and two nurses or unrest in the surrounding area, people operate. When we have a serious case, we rely lock themselves inside their homes. In the on a few NGOs through which we can admit afternoon, there are catechism classes for the the sick person to the hospital. In the case of children run by the nuns, while the adults are single mothers with problematic pregnancies, followed by some trained lay people, supported we can count on the intervention of the Danish by me. The Africans then organize Bible study Refugee Council. In regards to material support, meetings, choir rehearsals, and moments of we try to give a hand to those who need to cover mutual help in a community spirit, to support the cost of rent, and we help students to pay the needy.